Chapter Three

There is no such thing as a one-sided coin. * - Dream

They settled down at a large table, Dream at one end, Nick and Kevin each on one side. "That was my sister, Delirium."

"I think we figured that much out," Nick said sarcastically. His patience was running a little thin with this guy…he'd just seen a woman's head explode, and he wanted an explanation now.

"She does not have complete control over her form, and when she gets emotional, which is unfortunately often, she reacts as you saw there."

"But why did she react to Nick like that?" Kevin asked. The butterfly thing had actually been kind of neat to see, although he was glad she did it right in front of Nick's face, not his.

"You strongly resemble my brother." Dream looked at Nick steadily.

"Oh, I can see the resemblance, sure." Nick snorted. "Are you insane? Kevin here. Not me."

"Only my sister and I look alike. You have met both Despair and Delirium, did they resemble us?"

"Good point."

"We have been searching for my brother for a long time. For a moment there, she thought you were him."

Nick took a deep breath. "Wow. So I look like one of the Endless. That's kinda cool."

"Which one?" Kevin interjected. "And if he's gone, does that mean nobody's running his realm?"

Dream nodded slowly and clasped his hands in his lap. "Yes, that's correct. Destruction left us a long time ago, and you have seen the results of his absence."

Kevin couldn't help but laugh, "Nick looks like Destruction?"

"Yes." Dream replied curiously, not getting the humor.

"Kaos." Kevin grinned.

"He is also known by that name, yes." Dream nodded. "How did you know?"

"No, Nick. We call Nick Kaos." Kevin explained.

"How unusual." Dream mused, looking closely at Nick. "You are unique."

Nick returned the stare, amazed by the black in the man's eyes. "How so?"

Dream tilted his head and frowned. "If you do not remember, it is because your mind is not ready to do so. In time, you will."

"What are you talking about?"

"You promised to answer questions if we sang for you." Kevin reminded him. "Can we do that?"

Dream nodded and gestured to the front of the room. "By all means."

Nick and Kevin rose and made their way to the mock stage, whispering as they walked about what they were going to sing. They finally decided on Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely, figuring Dream looked like the kind of guy who might be able to identify with the song. They sang their hearts out, their voices joining in harmony as they never had before, their hands intertwined as they put as much feeling as possible into the song, knowing how much was as stake if they sang it well. When they were done, they returned to their seats, and awaited their critique.

Dream was staring at them through bright eyes, his expression blank. "I have never before heard music such as this."

"It's called pop." Kevin told him.

"It is beautiful." Dream said thoughtfully, looking from Nick to Kevin, and back again. "It is the beauty of things like this that restores one's faith in humanity."

"Now will you tell us what we want to know?" Kevin asked.

"What is it you want to know?"

"I want to meet Death." Nick said excitedly.

"Tell me about Destiny." Kevin said at the same time.

Dream turned to face Nick with an amused expression. "I cannot call my sister to appear for you, and I assure you, although many have tried, none have ever been successful in doing so. Not without ending their life. That way, of course, she will always come." He turned his gaze on Kevin. "What is it you wish to know about my brother?"

"How does it work?"

"Destiny reads from the Book of Life." Dream replied.

"So our destiny is written, everything is preordained." Kevin said with a sinking feeling. That had been the answer he'd been dreading…

Dream shook his head, "you misunderstand me. Destiny reads the Book. But the Book is written as he turns the page. He does not write the book."

Kevin's eyes narrowed. "So I control my own destiny."

"Of course."

"What about Desire?" Nick asked.

Dream turned back to Nick. "I suspect you have met Desire as well."

"I have?"

He nodded slowly, hoping against hope that what he suspected had occurred had not. Not again….it had been enough of a mess last time. "I see the touch of Desire on you."

"Nick's always been the fan favorite." Kevin joked lightheartedly, uncomfortable with the look of dread on Dream's face at the moment.

"Yes." The man nodded again. "Being desired by all is something many men wish for."

"I never wished for it." Nick defended himself. "I'm not complaining, but I didn't ask."

"And what do you desire, Nick?" Dream asked him, eyebrow cocked.

Nick's eyes widened, and he caught his breath at the name that popped into his head at the question, not daring to say it out loud. Death. He'd never seen her except in fantasy, only heard of her in stories, but he knew what he wanted. Her.

"I thought so." Dream sighed. "You must return to your world now."

"I have more questions." Kevin protested.

"We shall meet again," Dream reassured him. "I must implore you, do not come looking for me again. You do not know the consequences of your actions when you travel throughout my realm like this, and you always run the risk of getting lost."

"Then how will we talk to you again?" Nick argued. "You never came to us…"

Dream stood up and handed each of them a small locket. "With this. Open it and say my name, and you will dream a dream of me that night. You may do this together, or separately, but only once per locket."

Nick slipped the locket around his neck and clasped it tight in his fist. "Thank you."

"Sing for me another day as my thanks." The man waved, and gestured in the air with his cloak. "Now wake."

* Neil Gaiman, Brief Lives

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Nick sat down in the park, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt around his face, hoping against hope he wouldn't be recognized. His bodyguard sat a respectable distance away, trying to give him some privacy.

Things had been tough on him lately, both Kevin and Brian now had young kids at home to take care of, and everyone was growing less and less interested in the Backstreet Boys as a group. Even AJ had started talking marriage, and Howie had been with the same woman for nearly a year now, surely a record for him. Everyone except Nick, anyway, who was haunted by the image of a woman with black hair and porcelain skin. She was the one he wanted, but he didn't know how he would ever find her. Not until the moment he died, and he wasn't ready to do that yet, even if it did mean seeing her.

"Nice necklace," a woman sat down next to him, gesturing to the chain around his neck.

Nick looked down in surprise, seeing the locket had popped out from his shirt. With a soft thanks, he tucked the locket away, it was not the kind of jewelry one wore for decoration.

"I haven't seen one of those in a long time," she said thoughtfully.

Nick's eyes narrowed, and he looked at the woman closely. "What?"

"I said it's been a long time since I've seen a locket like that." She returned his gaze from behind a thick pair of glasses, her long brown hair falling into her face as she spoke. "Not many mortals possess them."

Nick gasped, "what do you know about this locket?"

She looked around them quickly and shook her head. "I will tell you what you wish to know, but not here." She gave him an address, and told him to meet her there in an hour. "Tell no one of our meeting, and come alone."

Nick nodded and watched the woman walk off, wondering who she was. How she knew what his locket was…and what on earth was it doing outside his sweatshirt anyway? He ALWAYS made sure to keep it hidden, it was easier to hide it than to have to explain it in interviews. God forbid anyone notice Kevin wearing the same necklace...

An hour later, he knocked on the door of a decrepit old house, not surprised when the door splintered under his touch. "Hello?"

"Hello," the woman he'd met in the park opened the door and waved him inside. "Please, come inside."

"Who are you?" Nick asked her, looking at the shabby décor of the apartment.

"That is not important," she shrugged, and settled into a rocking chair in the center of the room. "You may call me Thessaly."

"Thessaly," Nick repeated, enjoying the way the name rolled off his tongue. "How did you know what my locket was?"

"As I said, it had been a long time since I'd seen one. But I would recognize Morpheus' work anywhere." Her voice took on a tone of admiration when she spoke of him. "You have had an encounter with him, not many mortals have."

"He left us with more questions than answers."

"That is his nature." Thessaly shrugged and gestured to a deck of Tarot cards sitting on a table nearby. "Like the cards, there is truth in what you hear, but it is all open to interpretation."

"How do you know him?"

"Oh, we go way back," she said with a wave. "That whole family," she shuddered.

"Have you ever met Death?" Nick asked softly.

Thessaly's eyes widened to two large circles under the thick glasses. "Death? Now why would you ask about her?"

"I want to meet her." He replied.

"You have."

"Again. When I'm older than a second."

"You will."

"Before I die."

"It doesn't work that way for mortals," Thessaly shook her head. "You take what you get."

"Kevin got to meet her!"

"Lucky Kevin," she said sarcastically. "Who's he?"

"He has one of these too," Nick held up the locket.

"Who else did you meet?"

"From the Endless?"

She nodded a reply.

Nick bit his lip, thinking. "Death, Dream, Delirium, and Despair. Dream said something about me being touched by Desire, and I guess I look like Destruction, but that's it."

Thessaly rubbed her chin thoughtfully, looking Nick over. "I can see how you've been touched by Desire."

Nick frowned from the examination, "what does that mean, I've been touched by Desire?"

"You're an extremely attractive man." Thessaly said.

Nick shrugged in reply.

"Supernaturally attractive, one might say. Such attraction could possibly have helped lead to your professional success, could it have not? If women, and men, did not desire you as they did…"

"That's bullshit," Nick frowned. "They like our music. And how do you know who I am? I never told you…"

"I know." Thessaly replied with a smirk. "And you underestimate the power of desire. There is nothing wrong with it, or evil, it is merely another realm, another facet of emotion. If Desire is what made you a success, then I suggest you thank her if you ever meet her. Or him. Whichever he is that day."

"I never asked for it…"

"Nobody ever does," She replied evenly. "But it is written."

"The Backstreet Boys were written." Nick snorted. "Why do I doubt pop music is part of the grand scheme of life?"

"Everything is written." Thessaly leaned forward in her chair to look at Nick closely. "Every single thing you do every single moment of every day has a purpose. The end result of that purpose may have nothing to do with you in the end, but there is a purpose. Don't ever presume to know what that purpose is, you'll only be played for a fool."

"So what, I'm supposed to just live my life hoping I'm doing the right thing for this big reason?"

"You don't need to know the great reason for everything, just that you fit into it somewhere. Everyone does, although I suspect you and your friends may more than others."

"The group?"

"Yes." She nodded. "You have been touched by Desire, and you tell me one other of you has been touched by Death. Two of you possess lockets from Morpheus, and your resemblance to the missing Endless is striking. There are five of you, correct?"

"Yeah," Nick shrugged. "But I don't think AJ and Howie know anything about this. I KNOW Brian doesn't, even though he saw Death."

Thessaly sat back and considered Nick's words carefully. "The Family has taken an interest in all of you, that much is plain to see."

"How do we find them again? I want to know more."

She laughed, an evil sounding cackle that sent shivers up Nick's spine. "They find you."

"But I want to see Death."

Thessaly shook her head slowly. "You do not."

"I do!" Nick protested. "Ever since Kevin mentioned her to me, I've wanted nothing else….I look all over for girls that fit her description, trying to find someone who could possibly fit. I want her, and it's driving me nuts."

She smiled wryly and looked at Nick, "You can have any woman you want, must you fixate on the one you can never touch?"

Nick rolled his eyes, "You said I've been touched by Desire. Why won't she desire me, then?"

"The Endless have a sense of humor." Thessaly said as an explanation, after a pause. "You must leave." She stood up and gestured to the door, suddenly seeming uncomfortable with Nick's presence.

"But wait, I want to know more." Nick argued, begging the woman to help. "Please, nobody else knows anything about them."

"You will see me again," She reassured him, gently pushing him to the door. "I will keep an eye on you."

"But…" Before Nick realized what had happened, she'd pushed him out the door, and shut it behind him. When he turned around to look back at the old decrepit house, it was gone.

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